STEFAN Rupp today guaranteed the cash for City to bolster their firepower this month.

This week’s capture of Birmingham’s Alex Jones has shown fans the owners are willing to back Stuart McCall’s promotion push.

City are still hopeful of another striker and potentially a winger as joint-owner Rupp made it clear they would honour their pledge to make funds available in the transfer window.

Speaking exclusively to the T&A, Rupp said: “We are now on the edge. If we don’t reinforce, we could easily be in 12th place in two months’ time.

“It’s not a question. We have already prolonged the contract of Josh Cullen and we are now looking for attacking options.

“We are willing to invest on those.

“We know if we are looking for somebody, it does not make sense to get a striker who is only capable of five goals for the rest of the season.

“We need a little bit more than that.”

City have been linked with several strikers, including Chesterfield’s Ched Evans who faces them at Valley Parade this afternoon. They fought off other League One competition to land Jones, who scored ten in 21 games on loan at Port Vale.

Rupp admits City cannot compete with the likes of leaders Sheffield United in the money stakes. But he believes McCall already possesses a side strong enough to sustain a promotion bid.

“At the moment we are in fifth place but we have to be honest,” he added. “There are clubs situated in the (automatic) promotion places with budgets exceeding ours by five times.

“To cope with those big guys is a challenge.

“But it’s not necessarily money that wins games. It reduces risk and it creates chances but it does not mean that Bradford City are not able to be promoted with the budget we have.

“We have a squad that can really make it, when they show up on the pitch with the right attitude from the first minute.

“We know exactly what to do and we have the ambition to be promoted. We are quite focused.

“We are willing to invest and the rest of the club, the management team and the squad, also have to invest and give the best they can to use this chance.

“When we invest, there are no excuses. It puts pressure on the rest of the team and the manager, of course.

“What we are all urged to do at the moment is use the momentum.

“I think we will never be that close to being promoted, from an overall setting, than this year.

“This is the fulfilment, the dream come true. What could be better than buying a club, playing an awfully good season and getting promoted?

“That is something we can achieve if we believe it and deliver 100 per cent.”